U.S. House: Redistricting
changed the lines and there were three competitive
races, but voters returned the entire delegation. The closest
contest occured in the 6th CD (Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Cos.), where
Rep. Mike Coffman (R)
defeated
state Rep. Joe Miklosi (D)
by
47.8% to 45.8% and 5.4% to two other candidates (margin was 7,001 votes
out of
342,914 cast). In
the 7th CD (Adams and Jefferson Cos.), Rep. Ed
Perlmutter (D) defeated Joe Coors
(R) by 53.5% to 40.8% and 5.6% to two other candidates. In
the
3rd
CD
(Western
Colorado)
freshman
Rep. Scott
Tipton (R) defeated state
Rep. Sal Pace (D) by
53.4% to 41.1% and 5.6% to two other candidates.State Legislature:
Control was split going into the Nov. 6 elections; Democrats held the
Senate (20D, 15R)
while
Republicans held the House by a one-seat margin (33R, 32D).
All 65 House seats and 18 of the 35 Senate seats were up. Much
attention and resources focused
on Colorado House races. Democrats gained control in the House to
37D, 28R and kept
control in the Senate, 19D,
16R.Ballot Measures:Voters
approved Amendment 64, Use and Regulation of Marijuana, by 54.8%
to 45.2%. By a wide margin they
also approved Amendment 65, a non-binding measure on campaign finance.

Voting Eligible Population*:3,654,045.VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 70.3%.Voter
Registration
Deadline:
October 9, 2012Permanent Mail-in:
Ballots
may
be
sent
to
voters
starting
October
15,
2012
(22 days before
the Election)
Early Voting at Early
Voting
Polling Places: October
22,
2012-November 2, 2012 (22 days before the Election)full
calendar [PDF]
-Mail-in Ballots:
2,158,867 mail in ballots were sent out and 1,868,867 mail-in ballots
were received and accepted, including 633,024 Democratic and 656,650
Republican.
-Early Vote: 250,803
early vote ballots were cast, including 85,623 Democratic and 86,954
Republican.

Overview:Colorado was very much
a battleground
state, and according
to the United States Election Project at George Mason University, the
state had the third highest turnout as a percentage of voting
eligible population (after Minnesota and Wisconsin). Obama's
plurality was reduced to 137,858 votes (5.36 percentage points); he carried 27 counties to 37 for Romney-Ryan.General Election
DetailsObama
| RomneyBALLOT
[PDF]

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,441,907.VEP Highest Office
Turnout Rate: 69.8%.Early voting:
Begins
at the early voters' polling place for the general election on Oct. 20,
2008 (15 days before the election) and runs through Oct. 31, 2008.

2004
OverviewDemocrats made a
play for
Colorado, and although the brothers Salazar picked up the open U.S.
Senate
and U.S. House seats, the Kerry-Edwards ticket fell short. Bush
achieved
a plurality of 99,523 votes (4.67 percentage points).General
Election DetailsKerry/Allies
|
Bush-Cheney
'04

2000
OverviewBush won Colorado
with a
plurality of 145,521 votes (8.36 percentage points) and carried 50 of
the
state's 63 counties. In contrast to 1996, when Colorado experienced a
dogfight
in the presidential race, the Gore camp did not target the state,
making
for a quiet general election campaign. During the post-convention
period
Colorado only merited one visit each from the running mates.
Ralph
Nader made a couple of visits after the Greens convention in June
(Sept.
8-10 and a final stop on Nov. 2), and his 5.25% proved to be one of his
better showings. Down-ticket there were various initiative
campaigns,
and Colorado Democrats managed to wrest control of the State Senate
from
the GOP, for their only legislative chamber pick-up in the country.General
Election Activity